Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has told his Snapchat followers that he’s ‘pre-season ready’ ahead of a return to Arsenal.
This is despite the versatile Englishman rejecting a contract extension on his deal that expires in less than 12 months’ time.
The likes of Oxlade-Chamberlain, Virgil van Dijk & Naby Keita will start at a later date ?? pic.twitter.com/GfjPk82KHS
— Charlie (@AnfieldNotion) July 4, 2017
The Echo told us a week ago that Oxlade-Chamberlain had ‘no intention’ of agreeing to the Gunners’ £80k/week terms and that Liverpool would need to offer £25m to convince Arsenal to sell.
This seems fairly steep considering his contract situation, but it highlights the state of the market right now – which will be inflated further when two rivals are doing business together for a 23-year-old.
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Oxlade-Chamberlain would cover various areas of our squad, but would likely only move somewhere that guarantees him the first-team football he’s been denied at the Emirates under Arsene Wenger.
In this respect, it will be up to Jurgen Klopp to convince him of our project – as there’s no obvious spot for The Ox in our starting XI.
Obviously, he could come in and make a position his own, but competition for places will be tough – especially if we bring in Naby Keita – who’ll be guaranteed a spot in the central three.